About Mike Yee Outfitting
Mike Yee has been whitewater paddling for over 30 years and has been supplying outfitting to the paddling community since the early 80’s. As a Whitewater Open Canoe Instructor and Instructor Trainer who has paddled on over 100 rivers across North and South America, Mike Yee understands the demands put on equipment by paddlers. He has been sponsored by several industry leaders and has won a multitude of paddling competitions including being a 17-time Ontario, Canada Whitewater Open Boat Slalom Champion as well as a 14-time winner in the US Open Canoe Nationals. All of this paddling experience across different rivers, countries, venues, and student skill levels has given Mike Yee an unsurpassed knowledge of whitewater canoe, kayak, and rafting outfitting needs.
In the early 80’s Mike Yee started Mike Yee Outfitting as a response to the lack of quality outfitting on the market. At that time many boaters had to retrofit their own boats in order to paddle the rivers that they wanted to; and many of the systems were unreliable or dangerous. Mike first began developing outfitting for his own boats, then as friends saw the systems he was developing the word and demand spread prompting him to produce high quality canoe, kayak, and rafting outfitting for the public.
Since the beginning, Mike Yee Outfitting has used only top quality materials (vinyl, thread, glues, buckles, etc) that can handle the stress and abuse of whitewater paddling. Due to constant evolution and product improvement, Mike Yee Outfitting quickly became known across the industry as the best whitewater outfitting available. Because of the vastly superior product to other options open to paddlers, Mike Yee Outfitting soon became the preferred choice for paddling schools, camps, canoe clubs, military operatives, whitewater instructors, and even canoe manufacturers.
Mike Yee was recently featured in Canoe & Kayak Magazine's article "The Innovators - people who changed the way you paddle". Click here to read
Because of the flexibility and wide range of adjustment Mike Yee Outfitting can be tailored to someone very short and weighting as little as 50lbs up to someone very tall weighing over 375lbs. Beyond that, Mike Yee Outfitting can sew custom patches for special needs; such as multiple paddlers, handicapped persons, etc.
Much of the success of Mike Yee Outfitting can be attributed to the unique strap system that uses minimal hardware to reduce possible failure as well as unwanted weight. The strap system is extremely versatile; from the triple strap system it can be converted to a double or single strap system in seconds allowing multiple paddlers to use the same boat without timely outfitting changes. This is a great feature for a boat with multiple owners, paddling schools, camps, etc. Mike Yee Outfitting’s strap system can be used from class I-V whitewater, tripping, and a variety of other water uses.